2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 63 - South Carolina Children's Code
Chapter 9 - ADOPTIONS
Section 63-9-320 - Persons not required to give consent or relinquishment.

(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 63-9-310, consent or relinquishment for the purpose of adoption is not required of the following persons:

(1) a parent whose rights with reference to the adoptee have been terminated pursuant to Article 7, Chapter 7;

(2) a parent whom the family court finds to be mentally incapable of giving consent or relinquishment for the purpose of adoption and whom the court finds to be unlikely to provide minimally acceptable care of the adoptee and whose capacity is unlikely to be restored for a reasonable period of time, and, in the court's judgment, it would be detrimental to the adoptee to delay adoption. The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for an incompetent parent for whom there has been no prior appointment and shall appoint independent counsel for an incompetent parent who is indigent. However, upon good cause shown, the court may waive the requirement for the appointment of independent counsel for an incompetent and indigent parent;

(3) the biological parent of a child conceived as a result of that parent's criminal sexual conduct or incest as found by a court of competent jurisdiction unless, with respect to a conviction for criminal sexual conduct, the sentencing court makes specific findings on the record that the conviction resulted from consensual sexual conduct where neither the victim nor the actor were younger than fourteen years of age nor older than eighteen years of age at the time of the offense.

(B) A parent who has executed a relinquishment pursuant to Section 63-9-330 to a person facilitating the adoption or to a child placing agency for the purpose of adoption of his child is not required to execute a separate consent document also.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2.